The Curse of Immortality
by Sage of Seals
Summary: To survive, Naruto and the Kyuubi melded. Imagine Naruto's horror as he watches the friends of his past age and die as he himself is stuck in time, everlasting. Now, watch as he deals with this new future and comes to terms with himself. Abandoned.


AN: Well, it seems like my other story A Memory Long Lost is doing OK, so I thought about putting this up. I hope it's at least _somewhat_ original. Ah, well, tell me what you think!

Dattebayo!

o-o-o-o-o

_One dreadful night, in the Village Hidden in the Leaves, a demon attacked._

_This monster was the Kyuubi no Kitsune, a fox able to level mountains with its tails. However, a great leader called the Yondaime Hokage was able to combat the fox and defeated it, sealing it inside his son, wishing for the boy to be treated as a hero._

_Years passed and the boy's heritage remained a secret, keeping him safe from his father's enemies. _

_However, the villagers did not treat him as a human: they only saw the Kyuubi, not the boy._

_So the boy grew up unwanted and unloved._

_The boy, whose name was Naruto, put on a mask: a face of cheeriness and of goodwill._

_He went through the Shinobi Academy, and though his teachers mistreated him, he never gave up._

_On the day of his graduation, Naruto tried and failed to complete the technique necessary for passing._

_So the boy sat and watched as his friends left him behind._

_Given new hope by a teacher, the boy stole a forbidden scroll, giving him new techniques and strength._

_However, he was betrayed by the very teacher who had seemed to help him, and his life was torn asunder._

_For he had just discovered that he was the container of the Kyuubi._

_However, that night he discovered friendship, love, and true strength, as another teacher, one who was so similar yet so distant from him, gave him a reason to live._

_This reason became the heart of his dreams: to protect all those precious to him._

_Naruto was placed on a team, and the three seemed to despise one another._

_However, in due time, they grudgingly accepted one another and began to form bonds of friendship._

_The team went on a mission to the country of Wave, and Naruto discovered that he could help others, even as they helped him._

_His bonds with his friends became ever stronger._

_However, that was also when the three genin learned the truth of the path of the ninja._

_The way of the ninja is death: to be or be killed._

_Shaken by this fact, the boy stood resolute and resolved to change this._

_Returning to the village, the three were entered into the Chuunin exams, tests to show their worthiness._

_The three passed together, and eventually Naruto, as well as his best friend, Sasuke were eventually in the finals._

_Naruto showed his true strength and his will to never give up or go back on his word, solidifying his nindo, his ninja way._

_During Sasuke's match, the tournament was interrupted and the Leaf was invaded._

_Naruto met another boy, Gaara, one who was so alike and yet a mirror of himself._

_The other boy was a Jinchuuriki, a demon container, and Naruto felt his pain._

_Instead of moving on, though, Gaara chose to stay alone and destroy all others._

_Naruto was afraid, not of death, but of this possibility of what he could have become._

_Defeating the sand ninja, Naruto spread his outlook to another, and thus began another friendship._

_However, all was not well._

_Sasuke, yearning for power, deserted the village to gain what he sought: revenge._

_Naruto and his friends gave chase, and it all came to one final battle at the Valley of the End: Naruto versus Sasuke._

_The clash was epic; a battle of Titans; but the two were evenly matched._

_However, one thing happened to change the outcome._

_Sasuke aimed for Naruto's chest._

_Naruto, in his heart, did not want to harm his friend, and so avoided the blow that would have meant death, taking his friend's attack instead._

_Sasuke left soon after, seeking more power._

_Three years passed._

_Naruto left with the Sannin, Jiraiya, to hone his skills in order to defend himself, as well as bring back his friend._

_And so he waited._

_Coming back, Naruto was assigned a new team, and so they went off, searching for answers._

_Battles were fought and comrades were lost, and Sasuke moved ever closer._

_Only to slip out of their fingers yet again._

_The hidden organization Akatsuki made its move, and a great teacher was killed._

_But with the revenge on his killer, another gained the Will of Fire, the impenetrable drive to protect the village._

_Soon. Sasuke succeeded in killing his brother, only to notice the emptiness inside and so went further along into the darkness._

_The leader of Akatsuki made his move, and Jiraiya was killed by a pupil he himself had taught._

_Naruto was sent off to Mount Myobokuzan to train, grieving over his sensei's death._

_The leader of Akatsuki returned, and Konoha was destroyed._

_Naruto returned in time, though, and an epic battle was fought as the young Shinobi came into his own and showed his true strength in order to save his friends and village._

_He was entrusted with a dream: a wish to give the world peace to save it from pain._

_Time passed._

_Sasuke appeared, and yet disappeared again._

_Naruto trained harder, becoming still more powerful._

_Akatsuki surfaced again, and the organization was defeated in one final battle._

_Sasuke was still nowhere to be found._

_The Rookie Nine of Konoha grew older and wiser._

_Kiba became clan head of the Inuzuka, and became a leading Hunter-Nin._

_Shino took rein of the Aburame and lead his clan to greatness as they showed their loyalty to the village._

_Hinata took control of the Hyuuga and shocked all with her compassion._

_Lee married Sakura and the two settled down, retiring from missions, even though Lee never officially stopped getting stronger._

_Sakura became the head medic of the Konoha Hospital, and was renowned throughout the land for her abilities._

_Tenten and Neji got together, grateful to Hinata for the changes she had wrought in their clan._

_Ino and Chouji married, and the two were never seen apart._

_Shikamaru and Temari were inseparable, always together._

_Gaara led Sunagakure to greatness and was proclaimed the greatest Kazekage to have ever lived. _

_Naruto lived, happy for his friends, yet sorrowful for the loss of his first and best friend._

_Then one day, a message came in._

_Uchiha Sasuke was dead, killed in his blindness and hate._

_Shocked, Naruto took the mantle of Hokage and became the Rokudaime of Konoha. His exploits were great; during his battles with Akatsuki, he had fused with the Kyuubi, giving him the name "The Golden Fox of Konoha."_

_Time passed, and people changed._

_All but one: Uzumaki Namikaze Naruto._

_He did not age._

_He did not weaken._

_He did not die._

_Horrified as he watched his friends grow old and die as he himself remained in his prime, he fled as the village watched in horror as their great leader ran away._

_Finding a cave, he was overtaken by the Kyuubi's instincts and knew nothing, only that he had to sleep._

_And so, Uzumaki Naruto slumbered, and the world around him changed._

_Nothing is final, which is doubly true for mortals._

_The worlds changed, and Naruto slept on._

_However, nothing lasts forever, not even the sleep of a fox._

_And so Uzumaki Naruto awakens…._


End file.
